Minor Happenings: The White Stuff

Alex White (Photo: Ken Carr)

"Minor Happenings" is a weekly column which recaps the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that cover each team.

Ok, back in the saddle….somewhat.  It’s been a long, rough week during my post-op for partial removal of my kidney, and because of the pain and the drugs I am on I didn’t even open my laptop until Tuesday.  But, I had to try and find a way to pass (fill) the time and was able to put together a Minor Happenings report for this week.

For those looking for an update from me, my surgery last week was successful in that they were able to remove the softball sized tumor from my left kidney and, well, obviously I am still here.  Because of the aggressive nature of the tumor and the size of it, the doctors had to take two thirds of my kidney but were able to save a third of it, which to me is something I am still amazed by in that even with just a third of a left kidney it is supposedly still functional.

Since then I have spent four days in the hospital trying to re-train my body to do several basic functions that surgery like this can often interfere with.  I got home late Sunday and have since pretty much been secluded to the bed with some occasional walking and sitting to get the body moving.  There is a lot of pain - especially since I ditched taking the pain meds because I am tired of being a zombie - but I appear to be on the road to recovery and hope to be back at 100% by the end of May.

Anyway, it felt good to do some writing the past two days and put together this report.  Thanks again to everyone for all the warm thoughts and kind words.  Also, thanks to Jim Pete and the rest of the IPI staff for continuing to plug away while I am out, and for all of the guest writers for their contributions.

Onto the Happenings…

Indians Minor League Player of the Week

(for games from April 14^th to April 20^th)

Alex White (Right-handed Pitcher – Columbus)

0-0, 2 G, 1.38 ERA, 13.0 IP, 11 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 14 K, .216 BAA

With no Happenings last week, it’s time to catch up a little and announce the winner of last week’s award.

There has been a lot of talk this spring about the huge strides that left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz has made and how he is arguably the Indians’ best prospect in the entire system with the way things stand today.  But right-handed pitcher Alex White has had a lot to say about that so far as his outstanding spring and start to the season has him and Pomeranz as the unquestionable 1A and 1B ranked prospects in the Indians system.

White, 22, has been unbelievable so far in his Triple-A debut where in four starts he is 1-0 with a 1.90 ERA.  It’s not that it is much of a surprise and unexpected as much as it is the incredible strides he has shown, namely with his fastball command and the command of his secondary offerings.  In 23.2 innings he has just five walks with 28 strikeouts for nearly a six to one strikeout to walk rate.

White’s fastball has been up to 96 MPH, and more impressively his slider is becoming an effective third pitch for him and shows improvement and better depth from each outing to the next.  The Indians allowed him to reintroduce his splitter more heavily into his repertoire this year, and the results are showing with more strikeouts and pure dominance now that he is able to use arguably the best pitch in his arsenal.  He’s also shown a better ability at keeping the ball in the zone and controlling when he needs to go out of the zone.

Four Triple-A starts do not make White suddenly ready for the big leagues, and in a perfect world the Indians would leave him alone in Triple-A for another half dozen or so starts before ever considering him as a callup option.  However, winning changes everything, and that is exactly what the Indians are doing at the parent level.

With that in mind, White’s next start at Columbus coincides with the vacant rotation spot in Cleveland on Saturday now that Carlos Carrasco is sidelined.  It is possible the Indians may still opt to callup lefty Dave Huff on short rest or go with a spot starter in Justin Germano, but with winning now in the equation at the big league level and White impressing with his reports from Columbus, it is a very real possibility he could get the call to Cleveland and make his pro debut this weekend.  I’d bet against it happening this soon, but you never know.

Honorable Mentions:

Jerad Head (OF – COL): .423 (11-26), 6 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K, 1.115 OPS

John Drennen (OF – AKR): .333 (8-24), 3 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 1.157 OPS

Justin Toole (INF – KIN): .471 (8-17), 2 R, 1 2B, 0 HR,  6 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 SB, 1.029 OPS

Jason Smit (OF – LC): .375 (9-24), 5 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K, 1.108 OPS

Cole Cook (RHP- LC)L 0-0, 2 G, 1.80 ERA, 10.0 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, .225 BAA

Scott Barnes (LHP – COL): 1-1, 2 G, 2.25 ERA, 12.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 13 K

Indians Minor League Player of the Week

(for games from April 21^st to April 27^th)

Chad Huffman (Outfielder - Columbus)

.435 (10-23), 7 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1.397 OPS

The heavy lifting in Huffman’s performance from the week came from one monster of a game last Friday night where he went 4-for-5 with three homers and 10 RBI in a record setting performance.  His 10 ribbies shattered the Clippers club record of eight in a game which was set by Hensley Meulens on June 25, 1992.  The RBI barrage came about in his final three at bats where he connected for a three-run homer and then two two-run homers, the last of which was in the ninth inning off of Louisville outfielder Michael Griffin who was pitching in mop up duty.

For his efforts, Huffman was also named the International League’s Player of the Week.  Even with two rainouts, he finished first in the league for the week in homers (4), RBI (13), on-base percentage (.579), and slugging percentage (1.333), while also finishing 4th in batting average (.467).

The big week for the 26-year old Huffman was much needed as he was off to a terrible start at the plate going just 2-for-26 in his first eight games.  His numbers after the torrid week have now evened out and to an expected level where after 18 games he is hitting .281 with 5 HR, 17 RBI, and a .944 OPS.  The Indians picked him up off waivers from the Yankees last September as insurance on the roster and a much needed right-handed bat, and if Austin Kearns does not start hitting in Cleveland you could see Huffman end up as a possibility down the road to replace Kearns as the right-handed hitting outfielder off the bench.

Honorable Mentions:

Jordan Brown (OF – COL): .391 (9-23), 5 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K, 1.310 OPS

Cord Phelps (INF – COL): .389 (7-18), 8 R, 1 2B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 9 BB, 3 K, 1.037 OPS

Tim Fedroff (OF – AKR): .412 (7-17), 3 R, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K, 1.118 OPS

Giovanni Soto (LHP – KIN): 1-1, 2 G, 2.38 ERA, 11.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 8 K, .146 BAA

Directors Cuts

Indians Farm Director Ross Atkins has been around to see a few of the affiliates of late, and here is a collection of recent comments he has made on some players:

On Alex White: “We have talked about Alex a lot.  He is extremely advanced for a guy who is only going into his second full season.  He has a lot of ability with his fastball and splitter and has a developing slider, and has not had any problems with the transition to Triple-A.  Now it is a matter of us making sure he doesn’t have any problems with the transition to the major leagues.  We are certainly going to need him and he certainly is somebody pegged to have a significant impact.  This is an incredibly valuable time for him.  I would say the closer you get to the major leagues depending on where you are in your development it is maybe a little less about pitch development and more the mental component with attacking hitters and coming up with a plan.  Alex is only a year into the game, so his ability to compete and his stuff dictates where he needs to make those adjustments.  He certainly has some development left.  It is just a matter of just being more consistent with his slider with runners in scoring position, or from the stretch delivery if it is as good with nobody on base and nobody out and a four run lead.  Those are the times you find out how consistent that pitch is.”

On Scott Barnes: “He has had over 150 innings at Double-A so he is ready.  He spent all of last year and part of the year before in Double-A for us, and it was really just about not having a spot for him.  With Jeanmar going up to the big league team it created an opening for him [in Triple-A].  He has really made a ton of progress over the last six months with what he did at the end of last year and then taking it into the Arizona Fall League and into the start of this year.  He is up to 96 MPH, his breaking ball has more depth, and he is really becoming a more complete pitcher as he has gotten stronger and smarter.  There has been some question over the years if his best role would be as a starter or in relief, but now we feel confident in saying that starting is an option for him in the major leagues.”

On Cord Phelps: “He has been fantastic.  Everything we have asked him to do he has done more.  I think that is when he is at his best, and he has answered all the challenges well.  We asked him to play third in the Arizona Fall League, and we have asked him to play shortstop at Columbus.  A lot of it is his athleticism and maturity that we have asked him to do it, and some of it is that there are players around him that he is competing with everyday.  He has handled it exceptionally well and continued to make himself a better defender, offensive player, and a better base-runner.  There are some things he can do better in all three of those areas, but he is the most polished offensively of any of the players we have there [in Columbus].”

On Lonnie Chisenhall: “I think some of it is his youth, some it is the expectation that he is the guy, he is the #1 prospect, and is the anointed third baseman.  Some of it is dealing with that expectation and maybe trying to do a little too much.  It is not a matter of will he settle in, it is just how quickly he will.  The swing is so good.  There are not many people as talented as Lonnie Chisenhall as he can cover the plate and swing for power.  The other thing contributing to his start is he has faced close to 75% of left-handed pitching.”

On Clayton Cook: “At this point we are still looking at the whole body of work and making sure it is translating and that they are making progress.  Both Clayton and Giovanni Soto are young projectable pitchers.  Clayton is more along the lines of someone like a Jeanmar Gomez who is going to be a feel to pitch right-hander that could develop some power and still get some strikeouts, but projects to be someone who can really be a professional pitcher.  He is off to a good start here in Kinston.  It is a tough level for a young pitcher because for the first time you are seeing the same teams over and over and the best college players out of the [previous] draft are coming to this level.  This is a good challenge for him.”

On Giovanni Soto:  “He is left-handed and very young at only 20-years old and the guy we got in the Jhonny Peralta trade a year ago.  He has probably one of the best breaking pitches in the organization with his cut fastball.  It is a hybrid between a fastball and a breaking ball, but essentially an unhittable pitch.  We are actually challenging him not to use it in order to see if he has a chance to be a starter.  If it turns out to be best for him to use the cutter in repetitive situations then so be it, but we are going to push him and challenge him at this point.”

On Drew Pomeranz:  “He is going to be fine.  He threw a bullpen [Wednesday] and there is some tightness in his hamstring, but nothing that is going to prohibit him from making his next start and we are glad that is the case.  He has been exceptional [in Kinston] and already making a case for us to get him out of there.  We will continue to have him answer some challenges we are giving him there, but he is dominating as he is striking out a ton of hitters and no one is really making hard contact off of him.  But we do want to make sure that he is controlling the running game and using his changeup.  We are very impressed with him thus far.”

Pomeranz is fine

The Indians got a little scare on Monday when High-A Kinston left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz had tightness in his hamstring which forced him out of his start early after just three innings.  The removal was more precautionary than anything, and in tests since then and in his bullpen on Wednesday it appears that he will not miss his next start this weekend.

Pomeranz, 22, tweaked his hamstring on just the third pitch of the game but worked around it and battled through the three innings of work before he left.  The injury felt more like a cramp, which is why he tried to stay in the game in order to see if it would go away.  Eventually he left because it was limiting what he could do on the mound as with the bothersome leg he was unable to get the ball inside enough to right-handers and the ball was riding more over the plate, so he left in order to avoid hurting his arm or shoulder while trying to compensate for the leg issue.

Aside from the small injury hiccup, Pomeranz has been dominating so far in his pro debut.  He is still developing his changeup and at times tends to rush his delivery to the plate which can get him in trouble, but other than that he has been nearly unhittable.  The Indians are still focused on developing his changeup, a pitch he is throwing a lot more since his first outing when he barely threw it.  The organization appears intent on giving him at least a few more outings in Kinston to see how the changeup progresses and how he does with some intangibles like improving his control of the running game before sending him to Double-A Akron.

Pomeranz has made a lot of strides this spring and while he was a high profile prospect coming in he really caught the attention of a lot of the big league front office and coaching staff during spring training.  While he has been up to 97 MPH, he pitches more in the 91-93 MPH range and features an excellent 12-to-6 curveball which combined with his fastball makes for a dominating one-two punch from the left side.  If the changeup ever comes around to where it is an average or above average pitch, he has the chance to be something special.

Random Notes

Double-A Akron left-hander Kelvin De La Cruz is 1-3 with a 3.00 ERA in four starts this season, and is flashing some dominant stuff so far with 27 strikeouts in 21.0 innings pitched and a .187 batting average against.  His fastball command so far has been much improved, his slider is better, he is pitching much better down in the zone, and he is even effectively mixing in his changeup.  The one stumbling block to start the season has been the walks as he has 10 in those 21.0 innings, but the walk-rate is much improved so far over last year.

Double-A Akron outfielder John Drennen’s days as a hotshot prospect have come and gone as age (24) and performance/projection have caught up to him, but he continues to show he just may be a late bloomer as in 18 games so far this season he is hitting .298 with 3 HR, 9 RBI, and a .955 OPS.  His success so far this season combined with his solid effort in 2010 at Akron (.300, 7 HR, 58 RBI) and strong second half in 2009 suggest that he is starting to put things together with a much more consistent approach and has become a major league caliber hitter.  Due to the Indians ridiculous amount of depth with outfielders at the major league and Triple-A level he is stuck in a holding pattern in Akron, but eventually sometime soon the Indians are going to have to push him up and see what he can do at the Triple-A level.

Double-A Akron right-handed reliever Cory Burns is off to another excellent start this year where in six appearances he is 0-0 with 6 saves and a 1.42 ERA.  In 6.1 innings he has allowed 5 hits, no walks and has 14 strikeouts.  Of the 19 outs he has recorded an amazing 14 have been via the strikeout.  It’s not like he is blowing the ball by hitters though as he only sits around 88-90 MPH with his fastball, instead it is the deception he creates with his unusual tornado-like windup, the varied pauses throughout it, good command and control of all three of his pitches, and some amazing makeup.

High-A Kinston outfielder Tyler Holt is off to a solid start this year hitting .265 with 1 HR, 4 RBI, and a .727 OPS, and his 9 stolen bases are tops in the Carolina League.  The offensive performance may not be impressive when looking at it, but remember, this is the Carolina League where offensive numbers are typically very low where for example his .265 average places him in the top 30 of hitting in the league.  He was limited some in spring training by a hamstring injury, but looks 100% healthy and so far has been the nuisance to pitchers on the basepaths that the Indians thought he would be when they drafted him in the 10^th round of last year’s draft.

High-A Kinston right-handed pitcher Brett Brach continues to just put up consistent numbers outing after outing.  He does not get a lot of love as a prospect because of his average stuff, but he is showing he can be an over-achiever and performer and just be a winner along the same lines of Josh Tomlin who recently went through the system in such a fashion.  After making an awesome spot start in at Double-A Akron last week going six shutout two-hit innings, he made his first start for Kinston on Sunday and went 5.0 innings and allowed 1 run on 4 hits, 3 walks, and had 5 strikeouts.  In four combined appearances between Akron and Kinston this season he is 2-1 with a 1.13 ERA (16.0 IP, 9 H, 6 BB, 11 K).

With the departure of left-handed pitcher T.J. McFarland to Double-A Akron, the Indians assigned right-handed pitcher Toru Murata to High-A Kinston from extended spring training and slid right-handed pitcher Brett Brach into McFarland’s vacated spot in the rotation.  Murata was an offseason international signing by the Indians out of Japan and is a sidearmer who throws in the low 90s.  So far in his pro debut at Kinston he has made two appearances going 5.1 innings and has allowed 6 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks, and has 10 strikeouts.

High-A Kinston first baseman Jeremie Tice is back on the disabled list with a wrist injury.  He was one of the organization’s top RBI men last year (79) but has battled injuries throughout his career.  He was only able to play in four games for Kinston (4-for-16, 2 RBI) before going down with the injury.  While he is out the Indians added utility infielder Dan DeGeorge to the roster.

Low-A Lake County catcher Alex Lavisky is off to a rough start so far this season hitting .190 with 2 HR, 12 RBI, and a .583 OPS in 16 games.  He had an unbelievable spring training, so his fall back to earth so far should be somewhat expected; however, he is clearly pressing in the early going trying to show he belongs at Lake County and probably trying to impress all his friends and family who live just minutes away.  He will always probably be prone to high strikeout totals with his power/defense combination, but his 22 strikeouts in 63 at bats so far are a clear indicator that he is struggling in the early going with the pitching he is facing and at the same time trying to find a balance with handling the pressure of being such a high profile player and playing in front of his family and friends.

Low-A Lake County left-handed starter Mike Rayl has slowed some since his hot start, but after four starts is still 2-0 with a 2.75 ERA (19.2 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 16 K).  He got off to a great start his first two outings by not allowing a run in 11 innings, but in his last two starts has struggled some in allowing 6 runs in 8.2 innings.  He is a soft tossing lefty who projects as a reliever down the road and is a priority pitcher at the moment for the Indians.

Low-A Lake County outfielder Jason Smit is off to one of the best starts of his pro career hitting .388 with 2 HR, 11 RBI and a 1.057 OPS in 19 games.  While he has slowed of late and is hitting just .281 with a .791 OPS in his last ten games, he is showing he is still very much a prospect who because of his versatility and athleticism has a lot of value to the organization. He was named the Indians’ Minor League Player of the Week for the week of April 10-16.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Posted in: Alex White,Brett Brach,Chad Huffman,Clayton Cook,Cord Phelps,Cory Burns,Drew Pomeranz,Giovanni Soto,John Drennen,Kelvin De La Cruz,Lonnie Chisenhall,Scott Barnes,Toru Murata,Tyler Holt